October 5–11 is Banned Books Week, and this year the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education (EECE) and Queens College Library teamed up to spotlight banned and challenged books. The entire QC community is invited to see the display in front of the EECE office in Powdermaker Hall and borrow books from the display on the main floor of the Library.  

Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read and the value of access to information by spotlighting books that have been challenged or banned in schools and libraries across the country. The two QC displays feature picture books, young adult novels, and classic works of U.S. literature that have all faced challenges or state-sanctioned bans.  

The American Library Association (ALA) started Banned Books Week in 1982. While book challenges have been a part of U.S. political culture since the nation’s founding, the ALA has documented an explosion in the number of bans since 2020.  

We might assume that book bans don’t happen in New York. However, the library display features three prominent court cases that occurred in New York that addressed the limits of young people’s freedom to read. 

Banned Books Week display at EECE Office in Powdermaker Hall

Featured New York Court Cases on the Freedom to Read

Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District v. Pico (1982) 

• Key Question: Is banning books from school libraries a First Amendment violation? 

• Facts of the Case: The Island Trees School Board ordered 11 books removed from school libraries, labeling them “anti-American” and “filthy.” Students, led by Steven Pico, sued the Board. 

• Outcome: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that school boards cannot restrict books in libraries simply because they disagree with the ideas contained within, affirming the library’s role as a center for free inquiry. 

• Read more here. 

Banned Books Week display in Rosenthal Library

Rosenberg v. Board of Education (1949) 

• Key Question: Should books be removed from school curricula for promoting negative stereotypes? 

• Facts of the Case: A group of parents sued the NYC Board of Education to remove Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist and Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, arguing they were anti-Semitic on account of their portrayals of Jewish characters, Fagin and Shylock. 

• Outcome: The New York State Supreme Court dismissed the petition. It ruled that a book’s literary and educational value should prevail unless its apparent purpose is to promote hatred, arguing that education, not censorship, fights prejudice. 

• Read more here 

Banned Books Week display in Rosenthal Library

Ginsberg v. New York (1968) 

• Key Question: Does a person’s age limit what books and magazines they can legally purchase? 

• Facts of the Case: The parents of a 16-year-old boy sent him to purchase sexually suggestive magazines from a store owned by Sam Ginsberg. The parents’ goal was to incriminate Mr. Ginsberg under a New York law that prohibited the sale of material “harmful to minors.” 

• Outcome: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the New York law. It ruled that while the material wasn’t obscene for adults, the state has a compelling interest in protecting the welfare of minors by regulating the materials sold to them. 

• Read more here